Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Carl Zeisberg

1912

Carl Francis Ludwig Zeisberg was born on September 25, 1891, in Lexington, Missouri, according to his World War II draft card and death certificate, which named his parents: Francis J. Zeisberg and Catherine Binder. 

The 1900 U.S. Federal Census recorded Zeisberg, his parents, older brother and younger sister in Bristol, Tennessee, at 1131 Windson Avenue. His father was a German emigrant and music teacher. His mother’s name listed as Clara. 

In the 1910 census the Zeiberg family resided on Valley Street in Abingdon, Virginia. 

Zeriberg attended Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. He contributed art to the school’s yearbook, The Kaleidoscope 1909 and 1911. He continued his education at the University of Virginia. Zeisberg drew around fifty illustrations for the 1912 yearbook, Corks and Curls. The Phi Gamma Delta, 1913, said he was a member of the Omicron Chapter. 

Soon after graduation, Zeisberg got a job at the Baltimore Sun. About a year later he was a reporter at the Philadelphia Evening Ledger. For the Evening Ledger, Zeisberg drew The Geometric Kids from May 31 to June 12, 1915. The writer was Collins. For about two month in 1916, Zeisberg filed reports on the First Brigade of Philadelphia (composed of the First, Second and Third Regiments) as it traveled south to Texas. 

Evening Ledger 7/14/1916

On June 5, 1917, Zeisberg signed his World War I draft card. An Army Transport Service List, at Ancestry.com, said he was a private in Company “F”, 316th Infantry, which departed from Hoboken, New Jersey on July 9, 1918. In late May 1919, Zeisberg was headed home. The Evening Ledger published excerpts from Zeisberg’s diary on May 30, 1919; May 31; June 2; June 3; and June 4. 

Editor & Publisher, August 21, 1919, said Zeisberg joined the editorial staff of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. 

The 1920 census said newspaper writer Zeisberg was a Philadelphia resident at 119 South 52nd Street. After the census enumeration, Zeisberg married Frances C. Mitchell in Philadelphia. 

Zeisberg did the cover of The Virginia Reel, May 15, 1920. He also contributed articles to magazines such as the Atlantic Monthly. 

According to the 1930 census , the Zeisbergs lived in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania at 305 Paxson Avenue. Zeisberg’s occupation was newspaper cartoonist. 

An entry in the Directory of the Living Alumni of the University of Virginia, 1931, Volume 423, said Zeisberg was the class of 1913. 

Zeisberg, Carl F. L., 09-13, B.S. 305 Paxson Ave., Glenside, Pa. Feature Editor & Cartoonist, The Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, Pa.

Zeisberg was a table tennis enthusiast who became president to the United States Table Tennis Association in the 1934–1935 season. His remarkable and controversial role in table tennis is explored in great detail at Team USA, USA Table Tennis. 

The 1940 census said Zeisberg was an assistant city editor. He and his wife lived at 430 Sylvania Avenue in Abington, Pennsylvania. 

Zeisberg passed away on June 7, 1950, in Philadelphia. An obituary appeared in the Baltimore Evening Sun, June 8, 1950. 

Carl F. L. Zeisberg, 58, former Baltimore newspaper man and an editorial staff member of the Evening Bulletin, died of a heart attack late yesterday in Pennsylvania Hospital. A native of Missouri, Mr. Zeisburg attended the University of Virginia, where he contributed to undergraduate and alumni publications then and later have become a university tradition. 

On Sun Staff in 1913 

He began his newspaper career with the Baltimore Sun in 1913 and a year later worked for the Evening Ledger here before serving with the Army in World War I. He joined the Bulletin staff in 1919. Mr. Zeisberg served on the Bulletin at various times as a rewriteman, copy reader, picture and city editor. An authority on table tennis, he contributed an article on the subject to the Encyclopedia Britannica. He made his home at Ambler. His wife, Mrs. Frances M, Zeisberg, survives. 

Zeisberg was laid to rest at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.